FIRST DAY(Tuesday, January 10, 1967)In accordance with the Constitutionand laws of the State of Texas, theMembers-elect of the House of Rep-resentatives of the Sixtieth Legisla-ture assembled this day in the Hall ofthe House of Representatives in theCity of Austin; and, at 12 o'clocknoon the Honorable John L. Hill,Secretary of State of the State ofTexas, called the Honorable Houseof Representatives to order.The Invocation was offered by theReverend Clinton Kersey, as follows:"Almighty God, we stand in needof Thy wisdom and guidance as neverbefore in this new session of the 60thLegislature, faced with many per-plexing problems. We pray that Thouwill bless in a special way theseelected representatives of Texas,chosen by the people of our State.You know them, Lord, their needs,their hopes and fears. Father, givethem strength of body, courage andconvictions. Help each one to knowThou art concerned about what is saidand done here. Bless each one now ac-cording to our need and we will becareful to give Thee praise. Forgive uswhere we fail. In Jesus' Name.Amen."The Honorable John L. Hill, Secre-tary of State of the State of Texas,then addressed the House, as follows:There has always been in Texas afeeling of special state destiny andspecial state pride. No one has eversucceeded in putting it clearly intowords, but it has to do with ourhaving started something here inTexas that is very great and beingresolved not to let it die. As a state,we are old enough to feel the splendorand richness of our past, and yet weare young enough to have high hopesand gallant plans for the future. WeTexans of 1967 are resolved not only

to be vessels in which our heritage iscarried to the next generation, butare determined to pass on to thosewhom destiny has decreed shall beour successors, an even better andgreater Texas for tomorrow.We do take pride in our fantasticgrowth, our numerous metropolitanareas, our bountiful size, our strategiclocation, and our chronicle of im-provement in the areas of education,health, industrial and tourist develop-ment, water resources, and manyother areas affecting the welfare ofthe people. But we have never beencontent to rest at anchor. We knowthat the only constant in life ischange. We do not shrink from thechallenges and opportunities and re-sponsibilities that change brings-we welcome them.You are the men we have chosento lead us in meeting those challenges,those opportunities, and those re-sponsibilities. It was Emerson whosaid that the true test of a civilizationis not the census nor the size of thecities nor the crops but the kind ofleader the country turns out. Gov-ernor Connally reminded us of thistruth in somewhat different wordswhen he said that greatness is not anattribute of government but of themen and women in government.The cause of a better and greaterTexas, then, ultimately lies largelyin your hands. This cause will exaltin each of you a pride of patriotismand a call to duty more than anyappellation derived solely from localor personal considerations or spiritof political partisanship. This causewill awaken your faith and your hopeand your trust rather than yourpassions. This cause will bring to thischamber creativeness, open-minded-ness, courage, integrity and devotion."I gave a party this afternoon atthree. 'Twas very small-three guestsin all-just I, myself and me. Myselfate up all the sandwiches, while I

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Reference the current page of this Legislative Document.

Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives.Journal of the House of Representatives of the Regular Session of the Sixtieth Legislature of the State of Texas, Volume 1,
legislative document,
1967;
Austin, Texas.
(texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth193874/m1/5/:
accessed August 17, 2017),
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu;
crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.